Study: Younger generation carrying more credit card debt

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A new survey said when it comes to credit cards debt, a lot of people aren’t doing as well as their mom and dad did at their age.

The Ohio State University study said that people born between 1980 and 1984 have an average of over $5,600 more credit card debt than their parents had at their age. They have $8,100 more than their grandparents.

Mike Sullivan of the Take Charge America Credit Counseling Service disagrees.

“Actually, I don’t find Americans in their 20s and 30s having more credit card per se,” he said. “I do find that ones we talked to have more debt than their parents did, but it’s not necessarily credit card debt.”

And, in fact, Sullivan said his experience is that young people have less debt than they did a few years ago.

“The total amount of credit card debt is actually down a little bit, even though the total amount of debt is up,” he said.

Ohio State University Economics Professor Lucia Dunn co-authored the study. She said in a statement to NBC News that “our projections are that the typical credit card holder among younger Americans who keep a balance will die still owing money on their cards.”

While Sullivan does not agree that people in their 20s and 30s have as much credit card debt as their parents and grandparents, he said they are taking longer to pay off their student loans and other debt. He believes that by the time they reach retirement age, they will be deeper in debt than their parents and grandparents are now.